Thursday, November 27, 2008

Not directed related to family detention--yet. Willacy County, the home of the Raymondville detention complex, has returned indictments for Vice President Dick Cheney, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Texas state legislature representative Eddie Lucio, and the GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut) for their roles in the immigration detention system and the 2001 death of an inmate.

The indictment charges Cheney with illegally profiting, by virtue of his office, from $85 million in investments in the Vanguard Group. The group invests in companies that house federal detainees. He also is charged with exerting pressure on how much prisons are paid to house detainees. ...

The indictment alleges that Gonzales used his position to stop investigations into assaults committed in the private prison managed by the GEO Group in Willacy County.

The GEO Group, formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp., was also indicted on murder charges involving the 2001 death of an inmate killed in a Raymondville prison. The indictment accuses GEO of allowing inmates to beat Gregorio De La Rosa Jr., 33, of Laredo, to death with padlocks stuffed into socks. ...

Lucio is charged with profiting from public office when he acted as a consultant for Management and Training Corp., CorPlan Corrections, Aguirre Inc., Hale Mills Corp., TEDSI Infrastructure Group, Inc., and Dannenbaum Engineering Corp.

Last summer, Raymondville city council supported a bid for a new family detention center there, though ICE has not yet awarded those contracts. Needless to say, this series of indictments raises serious concerns about the viability of any facility that would house small children and families. (For more about these bids, see our previous blog posts.)

The case will be interesting because, as Will Bunch of Philly.com and ABC News blogger Jan Greenberg, point out, the county doesn't have jurisdiction over federal crimes. In addition, the DA, Juan Angel Guerra, is in his last lame duck days as DA for the county. Further, four of the eight defendants participated in an earlier suit of Guerra, begging accusations of political vindictiveness. The Willacy County Sherriff even responded with a suit against Guerra, charging retaliation. According to Guerra, however, he has been investigating this case under the radar for some time.

It is unfortunate that these indictments emerge from such a wild political climate because the conflict of interests for public officials, serious problems with detainee care, and massive goverment spending on the incarceration for non-criminal violations should demand the attention of policy-makers and judge far beyond South Texas. The indictment hearings have been set for December 1, and we'll follow up here as soon as we can.

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What is T Don Hutto?

The T Don Hutto facility held men, women (some pregnant), children, and infants from May 2006 to September 2009. Administered by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the country's largest for-profit corrections company, the center now holds around 500 adult women, many of whom are seeking asylum.

The Berks County Family Care Shelter still detains families. We continue to advocate for an end to family detention policy.

ICE champions the facility as a model for "civil" detention, despite patterns of sexual abuse and the continued detention of low-risk noncitizen women.

This blog is dedicated to providing information about Hutto and women's detention issues.

100 Events in 100 Days to End Family Detention

We did it! People like you came together and organized over 100 events to end family detention in Obama's first 100 days. Our online petition has over 55,000 signatures and counting! Our deepest gratitude!

Thanks to your support, ICE ended family detention at Hutto in September of 2009. The facility now holds exclusively women. We continue to advocate for their rights to due process, fair immigration proceedings, and non-penal custody.

Related Blogs and Links

America's Family Prisona short film chronicling the rise of Hutto and its impact on detainees and the local community

The Least of Thesea feature-length documentary that follows the implementation of family detention at Hutto, the lawsuit, and protests against the facility. Premiered at Austin's South-by-Southwest Film Festival in March of 2009.

A grassroots effort of pro-migrant, human-rights, and civil-rights bloggers and on-line activists dedicated to the enactment of meaningful immigration reform that is practical, rational, fair, and humane.

Homeland GitmosFollow an investigation of detainee treatment in American detention centers. An interactive website, complete with videos, detainee testimonies, photos, maps, and more.

Business of Detentionan exciting new interactive website examining the link between federal immigration policy and the corporations that are profiting off itDetention Watch Networka national coalition dedicated to tracking immigrant detention issues